25. Dane
TWENTY-FIVE
Dane
I liked to think I was a logical guy. Not overly driven by emotion. But right now, both my head and my heart were all over the place.
What had my mom meant when she’d mentioned my brother? Had she known what she was saying, or had she been thinking of something from the past? Something entirely unrelated?
It was confusing as hell, and I had no idea what to do with it.
Once we were back on the street, I sucked in two lungfuls of city air. Car exhaust, garbage, cigarettes, and cloying perfume from some woman walking by. Radically different from the clean mountain air of Silver Ridge. Yet familiar enough to ground me.
If Kip was having some kind of difficulty, who did he have to blame but himself?
I put my arm back around Grace, where it belonged. “I thought we’d walk through Central Park. Get some food and have a picnic.”
“That sounds great. You can talk about your mom too, if you want.”
I massaged the back of her neck. “I’d much rather show you a good time.”
“Dane—”
I stopped walking in the middle of the sidewalk, pulling Grace into the shelter of my arms. Somebody cursed as they had to veer around us, but I didn’t fucking care. “This is what I need right now. To focus on you.” I pressed a kiss to her mouth. “That’s the best thing you can give me.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “I’d love to see Central Park. With you.”
“Excellent, because I’m sticking to you the rest of today. There’s no getting rid of me. Sorry.”
“You have a strange sense of what’s a privilege and what’s a punishment.”
I laughed, steering us in the direction of the park.
We walked the paths aimlessly for a while. It was a perfect fall day. A bite to the air, but a blue sky and sunny.
“The fall colors are so different here than in Silver Ridge,” she said.
“Which do you like better?”
“Nothing compares to home.”
She was right, but home was a more complicated concept for me.
Grace took pictures of the scenery and sent them to her family and friends in Colorado. I asked someone to take a picture of the two of us, because I hated selfies. Then we got gyros from a cart and I talked Grace into ice cream. “I’m going to gain ten pounds on this trip,” she complained.
“I have a workout planned for us later.”
“Is that a sex reference?”
“Definitely a sex reference.”
She giggled and slid her hand into mine.
While we digested, I picked a shady spot for us to relax beneath a tree. Grace took off her coat, and I hung it on a branch so it wouldn’t get dirty. I spread out my peacoat on the ground for us to lie down. We stared up into yellow-orange leaves.
“Mom has good days and bad days,” I said. “Today, she was a lot like herself. But sometimes she’s scared and angry. I hate that I can’t make it better for her.”
Grace turned onto her side to face me, but she didn’t say anything. Just waiting for me to go on.
I told her about the early symptoms and Mom’s diagnosis. How early-onset Alzheimer’s tended to progress more quickly, which had been true in Mom’s case. None of it was easy for me to talk about. Especially the way that Mom had seemed to lose the spark that had driven her. Basic things became a struggle. Remembering her past. Remembering her family.
“I can’t imagine how hard that must be,” Grace said. “For all of you.”
“You lost your mother.”
“But it happened fast. That was incredibly hard too, but not in the same way. It’s something that’s not fair about grief. So many people go through similar things, yet for each person it feels unique. No one else can ever fully understand.”
I nodded. “My father refuses to talk about it. Refuses to consider relocating her, even though I’m sure Mom would love being near mountains again. She never really liked the city. Only lived here because of him. I’d love to bring her to Silver Ridge. But I can’t imagine Dad agreeing.”
“You said that you joined Knightly Global for your mom. She wanted you and your dad to reconcile.”
“Yes. It was after her diagnosis. After she was already struggling, and I thought if I could make her happy during her moments of clarity, it would be worth it.”
“Do you still feel that way?”
“Not sure.” I closed my eyes. “Grace, I know it seems like I have my shit together. But I don’t.”
Fuck. That was maybe the most honest thing I’d ever said to her, or to anyone .
“That’s a relief. You seem like the perfect man sometimes. I started to wonder if you’re a robot.”
I opened my eyes and looked at her. “I’m nowhere near perfect.”
“Perfect is boring. And it turns out that boring is not my thing at all.” Grace shifted so she was lying on top of me. She folded her arms on my chest.
“What is your thing?” I lifted my head to nip at her lower lip.
“Mostly…you.”
“That’s convenient, because you’re my thing too.”
We kissed until someone roller-bladed by and whistled at us. I was also starting to get hard, and I didn’t want to be that guy in the park. “Continue this back at my apartment?”
“Yes, please.”
Fifteen minutes later, we were stumbling into my place while we kissed and pulled at each other’s coats. A quick glance around showed we were definitely alone this time. No surprise visitors.
I pushed off my shoes. Tossed my scarf onto the entryway marble floor. Broke away from her mouth long enough to tug off my sweater, then hers. I put my arms around her hips and lifted her up, sucking on her neck. Her skin was a little salty from our time in the sun. I wanted to lick every inch of her.
Grace tightened her legs around my waist, and I carried her into my bedroom. I was too eager to play games or be subtle.
This morning, it had felt like more layers between us had been stripped away, and I wanted every physical barrier gone between us too. As much as was possible, anyway.
I set her on the bed and undid her jeans, pulling them down. “You’re gonna have to help me a little. These are sexy, but they’re tight enough to give you denim burn if I’m not careful.”
She laughed and wriggled her hips, helping me get the jeans off of her. Mine were far looser and were gone in a few seconds. My boxer briefs went next.
“I’m taking these off myself,” she said, pushing down her panties. “Don’t want to lose another pair.”
I smiled, remembering how I’d gone a little feral on her last night. But I had no regrets. “Happy to take you lingerie shopping anytime for replacements.”
“How about you focus on what I’m not wearing right now.” She had just stripped off her bra. I stretched out over her, skin to skin. A groan rumbled out of me.
“I love buying clothes for you, but you’re right. This is your best look by far.”
Last night, in the warm, soft glow of the lamp in my living room, Grace had been straight out of an erotic dream. But this afternoon, she was bathed in bright sunlight, and I could see even more details of her. Every dimple and freckle and the exact slope of her curves.
“You’re studying me like there’ll be a test later.”
“I didn’t study nearly this hard for tests.” No, I only paid this much attention to things I cared about. Things I wanted to understand from every angle.
This was a woman who’d already gotten under my skin more than anyone ever had. Who was sexy and smart and fun. Who had sat next to me during an hour-long visit with my mom and got the imperious Izzy Knightly laughing.
I was a lucky, lucky man.
We made out for a while, our hands exploring while our bodies rubbed together. Such a simple pleasure, but it heightened the heat and the anticipation between us.
Then I nudged her to roll over onto her stomach. “I need to admire the other side of you now.”
I kissed my way down her back, paying a visit to every knob of her spine. Her behind was especially cute. Perfectly round in my hands. I rubbed my cock against her butt cheeks, and the moan she made was pornographic.
“I might lose my mind if you make me keep waiting,” she said.
“Waiting for what?”
Grace rolled over onto her back inside the cage of my arms. “You know.”
“Getting shy again all of a sudden?” I rocked my erection against her belly. “Tell me you want my cock, gorgeous.”
“I want it.”
“How much?”
She arched up against me. “So badly. I’ve wanted you since the night of the masquerade ball.”
“Then why didn’t you come to me that night?”
“I was…scared.”
I stopped, straightening my arms so that I could look down at her and see her full expression. “Are you scared now?”
She seemed to be thinking about it, and I was glad for that. Because any doubt or hesitation on her part was the last thing I wanted.
“No,” Grace whispered. She reached up and touched my face. “I’m not. You said you’d take care of me. I believe you.”
I leaned down to kiss her, wanting to seal those words on her lips.
I grabbed protection and suited up. She was soaking wet. Pushing inside of her was effortless, though she was tight enough to make my head swim with the way she gripped me. She inhaled sharply.
“Good?” I asked.
“Mmhmm. Yes. You’re just…a lot.”
I grinned. “A lot in a good way?”
“In all the good ways. Keep going. I’m ready for more.”
“I like you greedy for me.”
Once I was deep inside her, I paused and kissed her forehead. I needed a moment to gather my composure. I’d been acting cocky, but this was intense for me too.
I’d felt the sting of rejection when she bailed on me the night of the masquerade. But this was so much better than an anonymous hookup. And in a way, a little scary too. Because of how much this woman already meant to me.
“Fuck me, Dane,” Grace murmured. “Please.”
“I know, baby. I’ve got you.” I started to move. Slow drags of my cock, then surging back inside.
Grace dug her hands into my hair, legs squeezing my sides. “More,” she begged.
“It’ll be better if I don’t rush.”
“No, it’ll be better if you give it to me hard. Be rough with me. I won’t break.”
Damn. Grace’s inner bad girl was present and accounted for, and I was here for it.
I put my hips into each thrust. My headboard banged into the wall, and Grace rewarded me with loud moans that just made my blood burn hotter. Tingles gathered at the base of my spine.
My hand reached back to close around one of her ankles, and I lifted her leg up onto my shoulder. I kept up that relentless pace, angling my hips until she gasped and cried out. The sound she made, the tightening of her body. That was all I needed to send me barreling toward my own climax. I pushed as deep inside her as I could go until I was spent.
I collapsed beside her with a groan. Grace rolled onto her side to rest her head on my chest. We lay like that for a while as the beams of sunlight slowly shifted.
Finally, I asked, “What if I told you I’d like to keep seeing you after this weekend?”
She lifted her head to look up at me. “That wasn’t our deal.”
“So what? I want to negotiate a new one.”
“You don’t know how long you’ll be staying in Silver Ridge.”
I grumbled under my breath, not at her but at myself. Because that was true. I wasn’t promising her much, was I? “Those are details,” I said. “I can figure them out.”
“But I have this pact with Piper. We both swore off dating.”
I smirked. “You swore off dating? I thought people only did that in movies.”
“It’s not funny.”
I wiped my smirk away. “No, it’s not. I’m not laughing. You told me about your trust issues, and I take that very seriously. Means a lot to me that you’ve given so much of your trust to me so far. Staying with me after the break-in. This trip.” I smoothed my hand over her sex-tangled hair.
“I want to trust you.”
But … She didn’t have to say the rest.
Spending a weekend with me was one thing. Trusting me to take care of her for a few days.
Giving me her heart? That was something entirely different.
I reached out to cradle her face. “And I want to earn it. Let’s enjoy the rest of this trip together. I’ll work on the details for afterward. Then we can see what happens. Deal?”
Her teeth tugged at her lower lip.
“Deal,” she whispered.